i've always loved getting ideas from the web. pinterest just helps me put it all in one place...

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

a family favorite - million dollar spaghetti

Last fall, I came across this blog as well as this recipe.... Million Dollar Spaghetti has quickly become a family favorite. I do things a little differently than she does and I also do mine in the crockpot to save some time during the crunch part of my day. You can also do it in the oven. This recipe is so good! You have got to try it! The creamy cheese mixture in the middle make this recipe extra yummy.
This best part of this meal is that I can make it early in the afternoon and it is ready when we get home from our activities. If I have it on by 2pm, we can eat it anytime after 5pm. Talk about a time save. We can walk right in from our activities and dinner is ready.

Million Dollar Spaghetti - Crockpot Style
Ingredients:1lb ground beef, browned and drained1 can/jar spaghetti sauce (whatever your favorite is)Cream Cheese Mixture: 5 oz Italian Herb Cooking Cream OR Philadelphia Cream Cheese 1/4 cup sour cream 8 oz cottage cheese4 tbl butterspaghetti noodles, cooked and rained
Directions:1. Brown your meat and cook your spaghetti.2. Add your spaghetti sauce to your meat and let it simmer for just a few minutes3. Mix up your cream cheese mixture (**money saving tip for future recipe below). 4. Now it is time to layer, so get out your crockpot -- put a couple of teaspoons of butter along the bottom of the crockpot -- layer half the spaghetti noodles on the bottom of the crockpot -- put a couple of teaspoons of butter on top of the spaghetti -- spread the cream cheese mixture over the noodles -- layer the rest of the spaghetti noodles over the cream cheese mixture -- put the rest of the butter on the spaghetti noodles -- top the spaghetti with all of the meat sauce5. Turn the crockpot on low for 2-4 hours, whatever time you need6. Serve with some yummy crusty bread!
Money Saving Tip:When combining your cream cheese mixture, dump the entire container of cream cheese, 1/2 cup of sour cream and 16oz container of cottage cheese in a bowl. Stir it all together. When done, use half for your current recipe. Then put the leftover back in the cottage cheese container. Mark it with "million dollar spaghetti" on top, put the container in a freezer bag, and store it in the freezer. Next time you make this recipe, set the cream cheese mixture out in the morning and it will be thawed by the time you need it!
Oven Cooking:If you want to cook this in the oven, here are the other steps.1. preheat your oven to 350 degrees.2. Do all the layering above, but do it in a 13x9 pan instead of the crockpot.3. Cook in the over for 40 minutes.